Sezen Aksu purses her lips on Öptüm's cover. Öptüm is therefore the Turkish word for 'pillow'. With this album, the Turkish diva wants to kiss all her fans, both the loyal supporters who have followed her for thirty years and the people who just got to know her. To start with the latter group: there could be quite a few, because Öptüm is Aksu's first album to be launched simultaneously in
… Turkey and abroad. The album probably doesn't cause as much excitement here as it does in her own Turkey. Aksu is an undisputed top artist there. With Öptüm, she delivers on that promise: she sounds like a self-confident singer, who fortunately has given up on digital gimmicks. It is not for nothing that she is surrounded on the cover by her band members, who play various instruments such as the electric guitar, Use Turkish clarinet and exotic drums such as bandar and tupan for a varied sound. Top of the cake are the elegant strings of Istanbul Strings that give the album a majestic quality. Sezen Aksu only gets better with age. (PdK)more
